Frame Bolts / Clear Laquer?

Hi guys. I got tired of looking at those nasty frame bolts in my bike. The ones that are either zinc plated or cad and look pitted and just plain dirty. So I sanded the coating off and past the pitting and cleaned them up real nice. They look great now. I have heard that these will now be prone to rusting. So my question is, can you just spray these with clear laquer for protection? Any thoughts would be appreciated.

Sure you could paint them with clear. Every time you used a wrench on them, you'd take the chance of chipping off the paint though. Also, the smoother the metal, the harder it will be for the paint to adhere to the metal, but it would be worth a try. I painted a set of aluminum mags years ago with a urathane-based clear and those held up great. I've read there is a spray you can spray on polished metal before painting to get the paint to stick, but don't know what it is...maybe someone on here will remember what it was. I've often thought about doing the same thing, so if you do it, take the time to report back how they held up. Might be a great idea!

I painted some of mine with chrome paint. Looks OK from 10 feet away (15 feet if you have 20/20), but I haven't had to put a wrench on them.

I bought stainless steel socket head bolts for my project bike. Some couldn't be replaced with SS because of the availability of the size/style so I re-used the OEM bolts and painted them black after securing them so they wouldn't rust. I cleaned them up first. The top triple pinch bolts, motor mount bolts and a couple others come to mind that couldn't be replaced with SS. The rest were.

Hey George, on an off note, I ummmmmm, ughhh, misplaced two of the copper washers on my BS'34s when rebuilding them. Can you sell me a couple? They definately look like specialty washers to me. Hopefully you know which ones I mean. They are the ones that keep the slides from dropping. I believe their the main jet washers. I'm sorry I can't be more clear but my vocabulary is very limited when it comes to carbs. Haa.

Post edited by: austin3119, at: 2006/10/20 00:45

Those are brass washers btw... I don't sell parts. Sorry.

Ok. Thanks for getting back to me.

I was recently wondering the same thing about the hardware. I have wire-wheeled some bolt heads and they don't seem to hold up. What can be done when restoring a bike other than buying all new hardware ($$$ouch!!)? If I can find a plater close by, what type of plating would make them look new again? All of the parts are freshly powdercoated, chromed, or painted and some of those conspicuous bolts need some help.

Well I sprayed one of the bolts with laquer and didn't like the results. So I used some laquer thinner to take the coating off again. I'm just going to see how long these hold up. Luckily I live in AZ so hopefully I won't have much of a problem. This did look kind of interesting from the Eastwood company.

www.eastwoodco.com/jump.jsp?itemID=134&itemType=PRODUCT

That kit is VERY interesting. I wonder if it really works. I noticed it says it will plate "properly prepared" parts. That could be the tricky part??

yeah eastwood is really big in the streetrod world.

Anyone out there tried any type of home plating? I'm thinking this might be the way to go with fasteners. I think you're on to something there austin3119!!